


Grief

by EmJ93



Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-22 03:39:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7418335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmJ93/pseuds/EmJ93
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cousland breaks down, realising how much she misses her family. Thankfully, Alistair is on hand to comfort her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grief

The children. It was the children that got her.

Weeks had passed as she pretended that everything was fine; that running away and leaving her parents to die wasn't killing her inside, that she wasn't twisted into knots with worry about what had happened to Fergus, that she didn't see fire and death every time she closed her eyes. She hadn't batted an eyelash when Alistair had put her in charge, too lost in his own grief to remember that she was dealing with the same. She'd kept it together as they'd battled darkspawn after darkspawn, demons and walking corpses. But walking through the city gates at Denerim and seeing children playing in the street, Morgana found herself sinking to the floor with tears in her eyes.

Alistair was beside her in seconds, worry etched into his face as he awkwardly hovered beside her, trying to figure out how to fix the situation. "Is everything ok?"

She heard him curse at himself quietly for his ridiculous question but just sat there in the dirt, cheeks red and soaked, trying to find any kind of words. She wanted to find a witty response, something humorous to deflect away from her clear discomfort.

She didn't want to explain how much she missed her family, or that she'd just remembered that she could never again play in the gardens with her nephew, duelling with wooden swords. She knew that once she began thinking about them all, about what had happened, that she would spiral so deep into her grief that she might never come back. And she couldn't do that, could she? Not when everyone was depending on her to end a Blight.

"Morgana?" Alistair tried again. He frowned deeper, brushing strands of long red hair from her face, and trying to meet her eye.

She looked up at him through her tears, trying to force a laugh, to make a joke about muddying her favourite boots or something equally ridiculous, but all that came out was another deep sob. "No."

She buried her head against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss against her hair. He had no words for her, and she silently thanked the Maker for that, wanting nothing more than to just stand there in his embrace until the end of time, everything else around them fading away.

A long time passed, and she finally pulled back, wiping the tears from her face and trying to ignore the worried expressions of their other companions. She looked up at her lover, unsure of what to say.

"Y'know, they say you can get anything in the Denerim markets?" He announced suddenly, directing a knowing smile her way before adding, brightly: "I once got pickpocketed!"

Morgana grinned. Leaning in towards him, she pressed a chaste kiss against his cheek, before taking hold of his hand and moving into the city again as though nothing happened. She gave him a sideways look, affectionate smile playing on her lips. "I love you, you know."


End file.
